SoulVeggie

Video: How to Make Your Own Swine Flu Vaccine!

This hilarious video shows how you can make your own Swine Flu Vaccine.  Although quite satirical, there's enough truth in the matter (see the source of video, which lists/discusses actual ingredients) to make it all very interesting.  Of course the vaccine is not vegan... and I wonder how many people would want to know that egg white and mercury derivatives are part of what's being injected into your arm or snorted with the vaccine nasal spray?  Not surprising that the ingredients of the vaccine are not emphasized by most media coverage.

Latest Mad Cowboy Newsletter - Rip Essy Interview/Recipes

Here's the Intro, Table of Contents, and a Direct Link to the latest Mad Cowboy Newsletter:

LINK:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mad_Cowboy/message/88

"10_19_09:  Engine 2 Interview, Mutant Milk, & SpiderVeg"

Howdy! Welcome to the 67th issue of the Mad Cowboy Newsletter.

In this issue we're proud to present a Mad Cowboy Interview with the amazing vegan firefighter/author, Rip Esselstyn. Rip's the son of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and has built upon his father's remarkable research via some very practical and easy-to-do ways in his diet/exercise/lifestyle book, "The Engine 2 Diet."  There's also three of his recipes for you to try!

Moving on further, there's articles about Mutant Milk, how saturated fat enables Altzheimer's, some surprising statistics on what we eat, Brainfood at the White House, a great new position paper by the ADA on the Vegetarian Diet, and more about that same diet reducing cancer risk.

Continuing in this edition, there's the intriguing proposal for a 50 year Farm Bill, 70 pages of solutions to our agricultural woes, the real cost of food, the new composting mandate in San Francisco, how animal abusers are losing, AETA is winning, new math contrasting a vegan diet with a carnivore's, and the Amazing SpiderVeg!

... as always, a tip of the hat to our new subscribers: y'all can browse past issues at the Mad Cowboy Newsletter Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mad_Cowboy/>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mad_Cowboy/

Here's hoping everyone is warm, and to quote Rip: "plant strong" this Winter!

Mark, MC editor/webmaster

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

00: Quote(s) from Howard
01: A Mad Cowboy Interview with Rip Esselstyn
02: Three Recipes from "The Engine 2 Diet"
03: The Vegan Mind-Bender Contest Winner/Challenge!
04: Mad Cow Info Round-Up
05: Mutant Milk, Fat & Altzheimer's, US Fatter, What We're Eating
06: Brainfood, Veg Diet Reduces Cancer & Chronic Disease Risks
07: The Digital Vegan
08: 50 yr Farm Bill, Ag Solutions, Real Food Cost, Composting SF
09: Animal Abusers Lose, AETA Wins, Veg Math, Spider Veg!
10: Howard's Schedule
11: Quick Bytes
12: Closing Thoughts

Probiotic Health Claims Dismissed (finally...)

I've noted many vegan (and non-vegan) bloggers extolling the wonders of "probiotics," in drinks, yogurts, to freeze-dried nonsense.  I've been amazed at the number of health claims made and how little (if any) are substantiated (not unlike that of the "foreign tropical fruit with anxiodant of the day" childishness).  The focus on a single micronutrient, to the exclusion of synergic interactions in the original source with other substances, is, imho, narrow-minded.

The European Union has weighed in on the matter in a rather significant way.  It's also important to note that, unlike in the U.S., since there's universal health care, it's in the government's interest to (a) get serious about health claims and (b) try to help people be as healthy as they can (one of the reasons there's often less salt and sugar in the SAME food product produced and sold in the U.S., then shipped to the EU).

Here's an excerpt from the article of interest (full article HERE and below):

General health claims for "probiotic" drinks and yogurts have been dismissed by a team of experts from the European Union.  Their opinions will now be voted on by an EU Committee which is drawing up a list of permitted health claims.  Scientists at the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) looked at 180 health claims for the supplements.  They rejected 10 claims and said a further 170 had not provided enough evidence of their effects...

EFSA is reviewing all health claims made for food products following the introduction of a new EU law in 2006 which stipulated that all medical-sounding marketing claims must be verified.  The European Commission will eventually consider the list drawn up by the EU committee and develop legislation which will be voted on by member states..."

THE TAKE-AWAY MESSAGE:  don't believe any health-related claims without reasonable and sourced evidence.  People blogging nutritional advice without without doing so are probably altogether too trusting of probable food company hype (and quotes from a company's website).  With the Internet and various search engines, there's just no excuse not to take a few minutes and see what the truth or probable truth is... and always, "follow the money."

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Your Heart: An Apple or Apple Juice?

I was at a local farmer's store this afternoon and heard a man asking about the sugar content in their homemade apple juice (no preservatives).  Apparently, he's developed heart disease recently and he's trying to adjust to cutting back his sugar and fat.  I struck up a conversation and checked out the label on a pint (roughly two cups) of Fresh Apple Juice.

At first it appeared as though it was 29 grams of sugar, but that was for one serving (one cup).  That pint of apple juice has 58 grams of sugar.  Clearly something for him to avoid.  I wrote down some URLs I've memorized that will help him learn more about low-fat, reversing heart disease, and low fat vegan recipes.

To put it in perspective:  the nutritionally conservative American Heart Association recommends 25 grams of sugar per day for woman (6 teaspoons, or 1/8 cup), on average, and 37.5 grams for men (9 teaspoons, roughly 1/5 cup (12 t = 1/4 cup)). 

That pint of juice has over twice a full day's recommended sugar for women, around 1.5 times recommended for men.

This got me thinking.  Awhile back Dr. McDougall weighed in on whether juice is a good idea.  I decided to check into the total sugar in one apple (medium):  13 grams (source).

That pint of apple juice, minus skin and any fiber, has over FOUR TIMES THE SUGAR OF ONE APPLE.

An apple a day will help keep the heart doctor away, but a pint of apple juice will increase your risks of heart disease.  Stick with one of nature's greatest gifts:  whole fruit.  More nutrition, more fiber, less sugar (and absorbed much slower), and cheaper!  What's not to like?

Super Award-winning Vegan Pie Recipe: Insulting Your Arteries & Brain

This 1st place award-winning vegan pie recipe is a real eye opener.  Let's glom the nutritional numbers (leaving out the non-fat ingredients):

38 grams of fat per serving (6 servings per pie is average)

12 grams of saturated fat per serving

TOTAL FAT:  as percentage of Preventing Heart Disease Recommendations (14 to 24 grams, Esselstyn, et. al.):  300% to over 150%

As percentage of the Feds Daily Fat Total Recommendation (60 grams):  over 50%

TOTAL SATURATED FAT PER SERVING and AS % RECOMMENDED BY THE AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION (16 grams):  around 75% recommended

Mostly this unnecessary and added fat and saturated fat comes from Earth Balance, which is, (to quote Rip Esselstyn regarding oil), "synthetic goo."  It's not a real food by any stretch of the imagination and is essentially nutritionally void.  Remember, even ONE high fat meal can affect the elasticity of your arteries for several hours.  Saturated fat has also now been linked with Altzheimer's disease (here), in addition to heart disease.

"What about in Moderation?" some people will whine:  let's read what Dr. T. Colin Campbell (lead investigator of the largest study on diet in history, who also advocates the same low fat recommendations of Ornish and Esselstyn) has to say in a recent interview:

"KF: Isn't anything in moderation ok, as long as we don't overdo it?

TCC: I rather like the expression told by my friend, Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr., MD, the Cleveland Clinic surgeon who reversed heart disease and who says, "Moderation kills!" I prefer to go the whole way, not because we have fool-proof evidence showing that 100% is better than, say, 95% for every single person for every single condition but that it is easier to avoid straying off on an excursion that too often becomes a slippery slope back to our old ways. Moreover, going the whole way allows us to adapt to new unrealized tastes and to rid ourselves of some old addictions. And finally, moderation often means very different things for different people."

From even the governmental conservative food corporation-influenced standard, at over 50% of the daily fat recommended per day, and 75% of the saturated fat, this is hardly a "super" or "award-winning" recipe in regards to your cardiovascular system and brain.  That's it's vegan is a useless determinent.

Let's hope more people begin to understand that taste isn't as important as how what's in what you eat affects your body, and in particular, your heart and mind.

ADDENDUM:  just noted how ironic it is that a vegan blogger has quoted  (http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2009/09/casein-most-relevent-cancer-promoter.html  -  she won't allow links from my blog to hers, guess the truth bothers her) what Campbell said in that same interview about casein, milk, cheese, and cancer, and then recommended "Follow Your Heart Cheese," omitting the above quote and not mentioning how incredibly high that synthetic goo is in fat,  IMHO, if you're going to quote someone, at least don't leave out what that person says (and believes) which runs totally against what you then advocate.  It's either careless or hypocritical, and certainly bad blogging.

Saturated Fat & Altzheimer's: The Link

09_0904: "...research has revealed the link between Alzheimer’s disease and [saturated] fat intake.  In one of the first studies of its kind, Curtin Alzheimer’s expert Professor John Mamo has explained why foods high in saturated fat can increase the likelihood of a person developing Alzheimer’s disease...

“Our study found that some dietary fats damaged the ‘blood-brain-barrier.’ The blood-brain-barrier is an important membrane that regulates what is normally allowed in and out of the brain, like important nutrients.”  Professor Mamo said Alzheimer’s disease was characterised by the presence of a protein in the brain called amyloid, which caused inflammation and cell death.

“Stopping amyloid deposits from forming is the key to slowing or preventing Alzheimer’s disease,” he said.

Professor Mamo’s Curtin research team found that saturated fats, like those found in poor quality processed meats, caused an increase in amyloid delivery from the blood to the brain, resulting in a “brain overload” of amyloid..."

[NOTE:  there are many NON-ANIMAL sources of saturated fat:

"In general, the main sources of saturated fat are from animal products: red meat and whole-milk dairy products, including cheese, sour cream, ice cream and butter. But there are also plant-based sources of saturated fat, principally coconut oil and coconut milk, palm kernel oil, cocoa butter, and palm oil. And while you probably don’t go to the store and buy these—with the exception of coconut milk—these plant-based saturated fats crop up in a number of commercially prepared products. Cocoa butter is in chocolate. Coconut oil and palm oils are in anything from non-dairy whipped toppings and coffee creamers, to cookies and cakes." SOURCE

Many vegan food products have high amounts of saturated fat (cookies, fake cheeses, and candy bars, are examples).  The Newman's Organic Chocolate Bars I slam in previous posts have 100% of the daily recommended saturated fat TOTAL for women.

What a killer... 2/3 the daily sugar and 100% the daily saturated fat as recommended by the American Heart Association.  Newman's Super Dark Chocolate bar offers greater chances of contracting not only heart disease, but, apparently, Altzheimer's as well.  Maybe the "happy" blogger should reconcider promoting them.

And to those who whine about moderation...how to you know when you've reached the limit?  Better to get rid of the taste addiction in the first place.

Article citing study: here and below.  Go low fat vegan and stop rationalizing otherwise.  The evidence of the deleterious aspects of added fat just keeps growing.]

EATR: The Vegetarian Biomass-Eating Military Robot

"A steam-powered, biomass-eating military robot being designed for the Pentagon is a vegetarian, its maker says.

Robotic Technology Inc.'s Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot — that's right, "EATR" — "can find, ingest, and extract energy from biomass in the environment (and other organically-based energy sources), as well as use conventional and alternative fuels (such as gasoline, heavy fuel, kerosene, diesel, propane, coal, cooking oil, and solar) when suitable," reads the company's Web site.  But, contrary to reports, including one that appeared on FOXNews.com, the EATR will not eat animal or human remains.... “If it’s not on the menu, it’s not going to eat it,” Finkelstein [Cybernetics "Expert"] said..."

"...The advantages to the military are that the robot would be extremely flexible in fuel sources and could roam on its own for months, even years, without having to be refueled or serviced..."

[Frackin' wonderful... a "vegan" robot... must be part of the "Forever War" effort...  Full article here and below.  Gotta wonder how much DARPA money will go into "feeding" this stupid project instead of people.]

Low-Calorie Diet May Extend Life in Primates

"A long-awaited study of aging in rhesus monkeys suggests, with some reservations, that people could in principle fend off the usual diseases of old age and considerably extend their life span by following a special diet.  Known as caloric restriction, the diet has all the normal healthy ingredients but contains 30 percent fewer calories than usual. Mice kept on such a diet from birth have long been known to live up to 40 percent longer than comparison mice fed normally.

Would the same be true in people? More than 20 years ago, two studies of rhesus monkeys were begun to see if primates responded to caloric restriction the same way that rodents did. Since rhesus monkeys live an average of 27 years and a maximum of 40, these are experiments that require patience.

The results from one of the two studies, conducted by a team led by Ricki J. Colman and Richard Weindruch at the University of Wisconsin, were reported on Thursday in Science. The researchers say that now, 20 years after the experiment began, the monkeys are showing many beneficial signs of caloric resistance, including significantly less diabetes, cancer, and heart and brain disease. “These data demonstrate that caloric restriction slows aging in a primate species,” they conclude."

[Full article here and below.  Yet another reason to go low-fat vegan, and also avoid such nutritional absurdities (see last post) as organic 300 calorie high-saturated fat vegan chocolate bars, vegan recipes with cups of coconut milk, cups of oil, with really fatty faux cheeses or fake mayo.  Get with it, people.  Master your addictions to taste and live longer.  You gave up meat, dairy, and eggs... don't stop now... finish the race to real health.]

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Researchers Find Possible Environmental Causes For Alzheimer's, Diabetes

"A new study by researchers at Rhode Island Hospital have found a substantial link between increased levels of nitrates in our environment and food, with increased deaths from diseases, including Alzheimer's, diabetes mellitus and Parkinson's. The study was published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (Volume 17:3 July 2009).

Led by Suzanne de la Monte, MD, MPH, of Rhode Island Hospital, researchers studied the trends in mortality rates due to diseases that are associated with aging, such as diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes and cerebrovascular disease, as well as HIV. They found strong parallels between age adjusted increases in death rate from Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and diabetes and the progressive increases in human exposure to nitrates, nitrites and nitrosamines through processed and preserved foods as well as fertilizers. Other diseases including HIV-AIDS, cerebrovascular disease, and leukemia did not exhibit those trends. De la Monte and the authors propose that the increase in exposure plays a critical role in the cause, development and effects of the pandemic of these insulin-resistant diseases.

De la Monte, who is also a professor of pathology and lab medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, says, "We have become a 'nitrosamine generation.' In essence, we have moved to a diet that is rich in amines and nitrates, which lead to increased nitrosamine production. We receive increased exposure through the abundant use of nitrate-containing fertilizers for agriculture." She continues, "Not only do we consume them in processed foods, but they get into our food supply by leeching from the soil and contaminating water supplies used for crop irrigation, food processing and drinking."

Nitrites and nitrates belong to a class of chemical compounds that have been found to be harmful to humans and animals. More than 90 percent of these compounds that have been tested have been determined to be carcinogenic in various organs. They are found in many food products, including fried bacon, cured meats and cheese products as well as beer and water. Exposure also occurs through manufacturing and processing of rubber and latex products, as well as fertilizers, pesticides and cosmetics..."

"...The authors state that the time course of the increased prevalence rates of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and diabetes cannot be explained on the basis of gene mutations. They instead mirror the classical trends of exposure-related disease. Because nitrosamines produce biochemical changes within cells and tissues, it is conceivable that chronic exposure to low levels of nitrites and nitrosamines through processed foods, water and fertilizers is responsible for the current epidemics of these diseases and the increasing mortality rates associated with them..."

[Full article here and below.  Note:  (1) I remember all too well being dressed down by the head of the FDA (Kennedy) during the Carter Administration for suggesting that we had a big problem with nitrosamines in our food back in the late 1970s, at a Washington DC Town Meeting (I was interning), and (2) I'm still having to "peck" out words from hand injury... will address overdue COMMENTS responses later this week (I hope).  FYI, Mark]

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Latest Issue of Mad Cowboy Newsletter Now Available

Title:  06_23_09:  Rip's Recipes, Ask a Vegan, & Largest Red Meat Study.

Direct link to online issue.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mad_Cowboy/message/87

Howdy!  Welcome to the 66th issue of the Mad Cowboy Newsletter.

In this issue we're delighted to provide a preview of our upcoming interview with the amazing vegan firefighter/author, Rip Esselstyn, in the form of two of his favorite recipes.  Rip's the son of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and has built upon his father's remarkable research via some very practical and easy-to-do ways in his diet/exercise/lifestyle book, "The Engine 2 Diet."

Moving on further, we'll note a study indicating that fish oil doesn't help your heart via Omega-3, some new finds about the benefits of broccoli, results of the largest study of red meat eaters in history, and more indications that high-fat food inflames your circulatory system.  You'll learn about the "Ask a Vegan" booth in New York, some vegan survival tips, resources for learning about animal rights/issues, and the consequences off going veg for just one day.

Continuing in this edition, we've got some gourmet viewing experiences in our Vegan Digital Theater, some details stats and studies showing that our industry-produced produce is definitely less nutritious than it used to be, some great links about the White House Garden (including remarks by Michelle last week during the first major harvest), and a list of 8 ways to eat locally...  some new resource links have been added to "Quick Bytes" and don't miss some of the articles during the "Mad Cow Info Round-Up."

... as always, a tip of the hat to our new subscribers:  y'all can browse past issues at the Mad Cowboy Newsletter Archives.

Best wishes for this start of a new summer and may your gardens be bountiful, healthy, and inspiring!

Mark, MC editor/webmaster

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

00: Quote(s) from Howard
01: A Mad Cowboy Invite to AR2009
02: The Vegan Mind-Bender Contest Winner/Challenge!
03: Recipes from "The Engine 2 Diet" by Rip Esselstyn
04: Mad Cow Info Round-Up
05: Fish Oil No Help, Brocc Talk, Largest Meat Study, Fat Inflames
06: Ask a Vegan, Vegan Survival Tips, Learning AR, 1 Day Veg
07: Vegan Digital Theater
08: Food Less Healthy, White House Veggies,  8 Ways to go Local
09: Quick Bytes
10: Closing Thoughts